He cooked a pot containing meat for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Hand me its foreleg."So he handed it to him.Then he said, "Hand me its foreleg."So he handed it to him.Then he said, "Hand me its foreleg."He replied, "Prophet of Allah, how many forelegs does a sheep have?"He said, "By the One in whose hand my soul is, had you remained silent, it would have kept giving you a foreleg as long as you asked for it."
أنه طبخ لرسول الله ﷺ قدرا فيها لحم، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: ناولني ذراعها فناولته فقال: ناولني ذراعها فناولته، فقال: ناولني ذراعها فقال: يا نبي الله! كم للشاة من الذراع؟ قال: والذي نفسي بيده لو سكت لأعطتك ذراعا ما دعوت به.
Imam Ahmad (15967), Tabarani in al-Kabir (22/335–336), and Tirmidhi in al-Shamail (170) all narrated it through the route of Aban bin Attar, who said, Qatada narrated to us, from Shahr bin Hawshab, from Abu Ubayd, and he mentioned it. Its chain is hasan, on account of the discussion regarding Shahr bin Hawshab, for his hadith is graded hasan when supported by corroborating narrations, though not when standing alone. Abu Ubayd was a freedman of the Messenger of Allah, and his name is not known.A similar report has been narrated from Abu Rafi, who said, a roasted sheep was prepared for the Messenger of Allah and brought to him, so he said to me, "Abu Rafi, hand me the shoulder." So I handed it to him. Then he said, "Abu Rafi, hand me the shoulder." So I handed it to him. Then he said, "Abu Rafi, hand me the shoulder." So I said, "Messenger of Allah, does the sheep have more than two shoulders?" He said, "Had you kept silent, you would have kept handing me whatever I asked for." He said, and the Messenger of Allah loved the shoulder.Imam Ahmad (23859) and Tabarani in al-Kabir (1/305) both narrated it through the route of Hammad bin Salama, who said, Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Rafi narrated to me, from his paternal aunt, from Abu Rafi, and he mentioned it. Abdul-Rahman bin Abu Rafi is Abdul-Rahman bin Abdullah bin Abu Rafi, of whom Ibn Main said, "His hadith is acceptable." As for his paternal aunt, whose name was Salma, she is among the narrators of the Sunan, and Ibn Hibban mentioned her among the trustworthy narrators (4/279), though no one else affirmed her reliability. For this reason, Hafiz said of her, "Acceptable," meaning when her narration is corroborated, but otherwise her hadith is weak. Ibn Qattan said, "She is not known." Abu Rafi was a freedman of the Messenger of Allah, and he had been Coptic, and the Messenger of Allah freed him.A similar report has been narrated from Salim bin Abdullah, who said, so-and-so narrated to me, and he mentioned something similar, and in it is a man from Banu Ghifar who is not known. Imam Ahmad (5089) narrated it from Ismail, who said, Yahya bin Abu Ishaq narrated to us, saying, a man from Banu Ghifar narrated to me in the gathering of Salim bin Abdullah, and he mentioned it.